Hello! Today I'd like to give all of you guys a guide on how you can secure yourself online. Unfortunately, due to the digitization caused by the pandemic a lot of new security breaches have been found, created and exploited. We all deserve to keep our data secure and our privacy in good shape, in this post I will do the upmost best I can to make sure you know how to do so! (If this post is too long for you, there is a TL;DR section all the way down in Chapter VI).
CHAPTER I - Multi-factor Authentication
In 1981 the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan was shot by a shooter in Washington DC. The shot wasn't fatal, but it was close. In the chaos and commotion, "the Biscuit" went missing. "The Biscuit" was the nickname given to a small plastic card that contained secret codes, which would be able to identify the president over the phone if he were to instruct to fire a nuclear weapon. Fortunately, the card alone was not enough to initiate a nuclear launch, because it had multiple layers of security, three to be precise. These three layers of security still hold up to this day, so let's talk about them.
A computer is able to identify you by asking for three different things:
The reason you as an individual may want to consider enabling 2FA (two-factor authentication) is because of data leaks. They happen all the time lately, especially by ransomware which is software that encrypts all the data it wants to once it's gotten access to a system it wasn't supposed to get access to. In 2020 and 2021 ransomware attacks skyrocketed because, due to the global pandemic, a lot of things had to be moved to an online environment, which let to the discovery of some security flaws. And when a company or organisation does not pay the ransom, the data will be publicly available on the internet, including your login credentials most of the time. Those login credentials would be worthless however, if you were to have two-factor authentication enabled.
CHAPTER II - Password Managers
Password managers are programs that exist for the sole purpose of collecting your passwords safely and encrypted, allowing you to copy and paste them securely, thus making you able to create impossible-to-remember passwords, such as 48 character passwords. Though the concept may sound a little dangerous, it has proven to be secure again and again because it encrypts everything it stores.
There are many options for password managers, I personally use Myki, which is unique for its Peer To Peer communication with devices rather than storing your passwords in an online environment. Peer to Peer means that two devices make a direct connection with each other without using a server in between, making it incredibly secure as your data is only stored on your devices, and will only synchronize with each other via encrypted communication.
Although passwords themselves are not secure enough these days, and I highly recommend 2FAs, it's still significant to use a password manager. The reason being, data leaks, which we discussed in the previous chapter. Once your data is out there in the wild, for everybody to see, they will definitely try to access more services with the same credentials, because it's common for people to use the same e-mail address and password for multiple services, unfortunately. That's why it's important to always use a different password, which realistically is only possible through password managers, and I highly recommend them.
In order to create passwords, you can download extensions for your browser such as "Secure Password Generator"!
CHAPTER III - Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates a secret tunnel between your device and a VPN server, rather than using your own IP address to connect to the internet. This allows the user to be completely anonymous and use an IP address that does not match with them. These connections are encrypted by default and are very privacy friendly.
Some games, like Grand Theft Auto V, use a Peer to Peer connection, which in this case is not such a good thing. This is a great way to connect with trusted devices, but in this case you connect with random people across the internet, allowing them to view your IP address if they have the proper tools, such as a mod menu. A VPN will hide your real IP address from other players, making them unable to perform a DDoS or DoS attack (these are cyber attacks where the user will receive too much internet traffic at once, which was sent by the attacker, and will limit or shut down their connection to the internet completely).
Services such as Google and Facebook try their best to track you across the internet to build a profile about you. A VPN is a great countermeasure against these trackers, because you provide services such as Google and Facebook an IP address that is not associated with you.
VPNs are frowned upon by a lot of companies though, even CubeCraft. VPN connections give a user a lot of freedom, which gives the user a good experience but may be harmful for a corporation. In CubeCraft's case, they block VPN connections because people may abuse the freedom they get from a VPN to evade a punishment, such as a ban. Netflix bans VPN connections because they do not allow certain content in specific locations, and so on.
It is important to keep in mind that using a VPN is not an offense by CubeCraft's rules. They just block VPN connections as a precaution for potential punishment evaders.
CHAPTER IV - Do not be naive online
No matter how much you secure yourself on the internet, it is still possible for your accounts to be compromised if you are naive online. Let's go over a few basic rules to help you understand the definition of not being naive on the internet.
CHAPTER V - Too Long Didn't Read
CHAPTER VI - Sources and Questions
These sources were used while creating this thread.
Chapter I
Chapter II
Questions:
CHAPTER I - Multi-factor Authentication
In 1981 the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan was shot by a shooter in Washington DC. The shot wasn't fatal, but it was close. In the chaos and commotion, "the Biscuit" went missing. "The Biscuit" was the nickname given to a small plastic card that contained secret codes, which would be able to identify the president over the phone if he were to instruct to fire a nuclear weapon. Fortunately, the card alone was not enough to initiate a nuclear launch, because it had multiple layers of security, three to be precise. These three layers of security still hold up to this day, so let's talk about them.
A computer is able to identify you by asking for three different things:
- Something you know
A username and password
- Something you are
Bio-metrics such as fingerprint readers, facial recognition software and iris scanners
- Something you have
A physical item such as a bank card, flash drive or phone
The reason you as an individual may want to consider enabling 2FA (two-factor authentication) is because of data leaks. They happen all the time lately, especially by ransomware which is software that encrypts all the data it wants to once it's gotten access to a system it wasn't supposed to get access to. In 2020 and 2021 ransomware attacks skyrocketed because, due to the global pandemic, a lot of things had to be moved to an online environment, which let to the discovery of some security flaws. And when a company or organisation does not pay the ransom, the data will be publicly available on the internet, including your login credentials most of the time. Those login credentials would be worthless however, if you were to have two-factor authentication enabled.
CHAPTER II - Password Managers
Password managers are programs that exist for the sole purpose of collecting your passwords safely and encrypted, allowing you to copy and paste them securely, thus making you able to create impossible-to-remember passwords, such as 48 character passwords. Though the concept may sound a little dangerous, it has proven to be secure again and again because it encrypts everything it stores.
There are many options for password managers, I personally use Myki, which is unique for its Peer To Peer communication with devices rather than storing your passwords in an online environment. Peer to Peer means that two devices make a direct connection with each other without using a server in between, making it incredibly secure as your data is only stored on your devices, and will only synchronize with each other via encrypted communication.
Although passwords themselves are not secure enough these days, and I highly recommend 2FAs, it's still significant to use a password manager. The reason being, data leaks, which we discussed in the previous chapter. Once your data is out there in the wild, for everybody to see, they will definitely try to access more services with the same credentials, because it's common for people to use the same e-mail address and password for multiple services, unfortunately. That's why it's important to always use a different password, which realistically is only possible through password managers, and I highly recommend them.
In order to create passwords, you can download extensions for your browser such as "Secure Password Generator"!
CHAPTER III - Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates a secret tunnel between your device and a VPN server, rather than using your own IP address to connect to the internet. This allows the user to be completely anonymous and use an IP address that does not match with them. These connections are encrypted by default and are very privacy friendly.
Some games, like Grand Theft Auto V, use a Peer to Peer connection, which in this case is not such a good thing. This is a great way to connect with trusted devices, but in this case you connect with random people across the internet, allowing them to view your IP address if they have the proper tools, such as a mod menu. A VPN will hide your real IP address from other players, making them unable to perform a DDoS or DoS attack (these are cyber attacks where the user will receive too much internet traffic at once, which was sent by the attacker, and will limit or shut down their connection to the internet completely).
Services such as Google and Facebook try their best to track you across the internet to build a profile about you. A VPN is a great countermeasure against these trackers, because you provide services such as Google and Facebook an IP address that is not associated with you.
VPNs are frowned upon by a lot of companies though, even CubeCraft. VPN connections give a user a lot of freedom, which gives the user a good experience but may be harmful for a corporation. In CubeCraft's case, they block VPN connections because people may abuse the freedom they get from a VPN to evade a punishment, such as a ban. Netflix bans VPN connections because they do not allow certain content in specific locations, and so on.
It is important to keep in mind that using a VPN is not an offense by CubeCraft's rules. They just block VPN connections as a precaution for potential punishment evaders.
CHAPTER IV - Do not be naive online
No matter how much you secure yourself on the internet, it is still possible for your accounts to be compromised if you are naive online. Let's go over a few basic rules to help you understand the definition of not being naive on the internet.
- Do not click random links that were sent by unknown people. These may be "grabbers" that serve the sole purpose of collecting data such as your IP address.
- Do not open links sent through SMS. SMS is an old protocol with a ton of security flaws, even though we still use it decades after it was invented.
- Be careful with catfish profiles. Catfish profiles are people who pretend to be someone else, usually to gain something like money or information. If someone you do not know asks for sensitive information, or asks for money, you should report this immediately to either an adult or to the service you were using to communicate with this person.
- Do not share real life information online when you don't have to. Some services, such as CubeCraft, require information about you when purchasing a product for instance, this is fine as they are legally bound to keep your data secure. Individuals are not legally bound to this and may try to exploit the information you give them.
CHAPTER V - Too Long Didn't Read
- Always use two-factor authentication whenever a service allows it!
- Use a password manager to store your passwords securely, allowing you to create difficult passwords without having to memorize them.
- You may want a VPN to stop services from tracking you and people with malicious intent to perform Denial of Service attacks. Using one is not against CubeCraft's rules, but you may be unable to connect to CubeCraft's services due to their anti punishment evading policy.
- If you'd like to give less information to major services that sell your data to businesses for them to create targeted advertisements, you may want to read the following page about alternative services
- Do not be naive online. Be careful when someone asks for sensitive information money or when you receive links from an unknown source.
CHAPTER VI - Sources and Questions
These sources were used while creating this thread.
Chapter I
Chapter II
Questions:
- Did you learn anything from this post?
- Do you think VPNs do more harm than good?
- Is there anything that can improve this post?
- Is there anything missing from this post?
- Do you think selling data for targeted advertisement is unethical?
